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Victoria's second wave of the Omicron variant is predicted to peak in weeks and will have a "long tail", as the government prepares to extend COVID-19 pandemic orders.

As the state recorded eight deaths and 12,007 new cases on Tuesday, its highest infection total since February 3, Health Minister Martin Foley said modelling indicated the current wave of the Omicron sub-variant is forecast to peak sometime in April.

He said the data, shared at the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, showed there would be a "long tail" in May, attributing the slow decline to a number of factors.

"As we see higher levels of infectivity grow across the community, as movements happen around the community, as there's more indoor activity, as the weather gets colder, you expect that to start to be reflected in the chains of transmission," he told reporters.

The state's pandemic declaration, which allows the government to enforce ongoing restrictions as well as mask and vaccine mandates, is due to expire on April 12

Mr Foley said he expects the orders will be extended once he receives the updated health advice.

He would not be drawn on whether it would be Victorians' last winter living under a pandemic declaration, although he is keen to avoid a situation akin to the United Kingdom after it ditched all COVID-19 restrictions including the need to self-isolate.

"The UK is seeing record levels of cases and huge demand on their hospitals (and) the NHS (National Health Service)," Mr Foley said.

"We don't want to be in that position. We want to make sure that we stay open and we stay safe with the absolute minimum number of arrangements in place."

National cabinet last month agreed it would remove the requirement for close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases to isolate, contingent on health advice from the AHPPC.

But the expert health body recommended the seven-day isolation rule for close contacts remain until the peak passes for the current Omicron wave.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he was "a bit surprised" by Prime Minister Scott Morrison's suggestion on Monday that states and territories would ultimately decide when to relax the rule.

"If there's a quarrel between the prime minister and the chief medical officer, well, I respectfully suggest that he sort that out," he said.

"He's asked a question (to the AHPPC) on behalf of all of us ... he doesn't like the answer and that was apparently my fault. I don't think so."

Mr Morrison repeated his comments on Tuesday, telling reporters in Sydney "I have always been a fan of these isolation rules being eased".

There are currently 339 people in Victorian hospitals battling the virus - up from 305 on Monday - with 17 of those in intensive care.

Meanwhile, another 16 million rapid antigen tests will be distributed to schools and early learning centres from this week as Victoria extends its surveillance regime for at least the first four weeks of term two.

Health department modelling, based on a 50 per cent compliance rate for students, estimates the voluntary screening program has prevented 113,500 infections throughout term one.

© AAP 2022

Australian fighter jets and navy vessels will be armed with new long-range strike missiles years ahead of schedule under a $3.5 billion fast-tracked package.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the expedited timetable is being used to deter acts of aggression against Australia.

"The world has been shocked with what we've seen in Europe and in Ukraine and we hope and pray that doesn't spread to other countries," Mr Dutton told the Seven Network on Tuesday.

"But we're also very worried about what's happening in the Indo-Pacific and this is about Australia being prepared and making sure that we can stare down any act of bullying against our country."

The missiles will be able to strike targets up to 900 kilometres away and will be manufactured by US defence companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

The weapons include missiles for the RAAF arriving three years ahead of schedule and missiles for the navy five years ahead of schedule.

Hi-tech sea mines will also arrive three years earlier under the package.

Mr Dutton said Australia is working towards its own sovereign manufacturing capabilities in the medium term, but the quickest way to acquire the missiles is through US partners.

Raytheon Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia have officially been announced as strategic partners under the $1 billion sovereign weapons manufacturing enterprise.

"We're trying to establish the industry here and we're going to do that very quickly and accelerate that as well because we need to, we must," Mr Dutton said.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says the government has got some of its defence spending wrong, pointing towards scrapped programs.

"What we need to do is ensure our defence investment produces assets - we know that $5 billion has been spent on submarines that haven't produced anything except a torn up contract," he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended the decision to cancel the French submarine contract, saying the strategic environment had changed since the contract was signed and diesel-powered submarines wouldn't be up to the job.

"The opportunity for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines at the time of the decision was not present," he said.

"The submarines that we were going to buy we're not going to be able to meet the task that we needed them to perform to keep Australia safe."

The defence minister said a major announcement about the procurement of the nuclear submarines will be made later in the year as he opened a new $96 million navy guided weapons facility in western Sydney on Tuesday.

The facility will be used as part of Australia's sovereign guided weapons program.

Mr Dutton flagged the submarines arriving in Australia much sooner than expected, with the first boat anticipated to be in the water at the end of the 2030s.

The United States and the United Kingdom under trilateral AUKUS alliance "understand the situation in the Indo-Pacific", Mr Dutton said when speaking of the expedited timeline and warning of Chinese militarisation.

"I think we can condense the timeline of delivery," he said.

"But we'll release all of that detail at the appropriate time."

© AAP 2022

Commonwealth waters off the Bass Strait in Victoria's east will be assessed for offshore wind farms.

The area off Gippsland's coast will become Australia's first "priority assessment" for offshore wind developments, the federal government says.

It was chosen due to its favourable wind conditions, investor interest, grid connection plans and Victorian government backing.

Assessments will examine the impact of offshore renewable energy infrastructure, including on marine life and birds, fishing, shipping and local communities.

"Our government understands that a strong offshore energy sector can help provide clean and affordable power to households, businesses, and industrial consumers," Assistant Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Tim Wilson said on Tuesday.

"An offshore electricity industry could create thousands of new jobs and drive the economic growth of our regional and coastal economies."

Asked why wind farms had not been built in Australia years ago, Mr Wilson said: "I can't answer to why it wasn't done in the past."

"But what I can say is, within three weeks of being the minister responsible for this area, we passed laws to enable it to happen and now we're getting on with the job," he told ABC Radio National.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he supported the plan.

"I've got a target to massively increase the amount of wind energy that's created offshore," he told reporters on Tuesday.

The state government announced in November it was putting $40 million towards investigations into building three offshore wind farms in different near Gippsland and the Bass Coast, in separately controlled waters from the Commonwealth plan.

The initiatives could create up to 5600 jobs, bring $18 million in new investment into Victoria and power about 3.6 million homes.

A proposed 2.2GW offshore wind farm off the coast of Gippsland, Star of the South, received $19.5 million in state funding for pre-construction development.

The project will see up to 200 turbine towers driven into the seabed over about 500 square kilometres off Port Albert, Mcloughlins Beach and Woodside Beach.

© AAP 2022